Wheel Alignment Raleigh

Drivers must maintain correct wheel alignment on all vehicles

An Essential Annual Service

Triangle Car Care offers a very important automotive service that helps drivers reduce the chances of an unwelcome flat tire. Maintaining proper wheel alignment extends the functional lifetime of tires by ensuring that treads will wear evenly.

Why Wheel Alignment Matters

As cars travel, the treads of their tires gradually sustain wear. Drivers need to replace tires on a vehicle less frequently when they keep all the tires in proper alignment. This step ensures that both the left and the right side of every individual tire carries the vehicle’s weight evenly along road surfaces.

If a tire’s alignment goes out of kilter, one edge will endure greater daily wear and tear than the other side. When this situation continues over the course of time, the tire develops worn treads along either the right or the left side. It will require replacement sooner than a properly aligned tire. The damaged portion of the tire becomes susceptible to puncturing more easily, too.

Signs of Poor Alignment

One possible cause of vehicles tending to veer to the right or the left might involve poorly aligned wheels. Or if you notice that one side of a tire appears to wear faster than the other, having the alignment checked again during the year makes sense. Possibly driving over a bump or pothole damaged the wheel alignment.

Wheel alignment is the position of the wheels relative to your car. When properly aligned, the wheels point in the right direction. Without proper alignment, the wheels resist your steering commands, as well as each other. Alignment also affects gas mileage and tire wear. If your tires are pointed in different directions, they fight against each other and can cause tread wear.
Computerized alignment equipment is used to measure all alignment angles on today’s cars. These include both adjustable and non-adjustable angles. (Non-adjustable angles require repair or replacement of the suspension component.)

The most common adjustable angles are:

Toe

This refers to the tilted direction of the wheels toward or away from one another when viewed from the top. Toe is the most critical tire wearing angle. Tires that “toe-in” point toward one another. Tires that “toe-out” point away from each other.

Camber

This refers to the tilt of the wheels toward or away from one another when viewed from the front. Wheels that tilt in toward the vehicle have “negative camber.” Wheels that tilt away from the vehicle have “positive camber.”

Caster

This refers to the angle of the steering axis in relation to an imaginary vertical line through the center of the wheel when viewed from the side. “Positive caster” is the term used when the vertical line is tilted back toward the rear. If it’s tilted forward, we call it “negative caster.” The proper caster angle stabilizes your car for better steering.

Thrust Angle

This refers to the relationship of all four wheels to each other, as well as their relationship to an imaginary center line that runs from bumper to bumper. The term “thrust line” refers to the direction in which the rear wheels are pointed. Thrust angle is correctable on cars with adjustable rear suspensions. If your car has a non-adjustable suspension, thrust angle is compensated for by aligning the front wheels to the rear wheels.